Angelic Alchemist
by vampire kyuubi
Summary: At the moment the black feathers turn white and shatter like a crystal, you'll forget me. The Elric brothers once again encounter new allies, new adversaries, and with them, a new mystery. The black feathers will be their guide, and at the end of the r


_May I have your attention please. The ten thirty a.m. train to Proupee is currently arriving on Platform Four. Everyone is advised to move away from the tracks. Once again, the ten thirty a.m. train to Proupee..._

The sound of a train drowned the announcer's voice, effectively cutting the announcement halfway through, and with that, Edward's attention turned from the announcement to the train that was currently slowing down to a halt in front of him. According to the announcement earlier, this was the train he was supposed to take, for his next assignment is in Proupee, the train's destination. Being the impatient person he was, Edward would really like to board the train now, to let him pick a seat freely; however, a certain circumstance rendered him unable to perform said act. That circumstance was his promise to none other than Colonel Roy Mustang himself to wait for his so-called 'partner', who he didn't even know about. All he knew was from the papers Colonel Mustang gave him earlier, and he hadn't even read those papers carefully; he had only glanced at them, for goodness' sake--he didn't even have time look at the girl's picture! If Colonel Mustang had gotten him a train that didn't leave at ten thirty, he wouldn't have hurried; ridiculously enough however, said Colonel somehow got him three tickets--for him, his brother, and his partner--for a train that leaves in half an hour from the time he got the tickets. Yes, Edward thought it was ridiculous, and yes, he had stated that it was right in front of the Colonel's face around half an hour ago. Clearly, he was a fool to expect anything from Colonel Bastard. 

Letting out a loud sigh, much like the sound of a train letting some steam out, Edward watched as people began to board the train he was supposed to board as well. Annoyed grumbles could be faintly heard coming from the alchemist as he paced back and forth near the bench where his younger brother was sitting, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a mixture of annoyance and impatience plastered all over his face--to put it simply, he's pouting like a little kid. What else could he do, anyway? It wasn't like he knew where his partner was, and even if he did know, he didn't know how she looks like! All he remembered from the girl's picture was black and red, possibly a hint of white, and he couldn't check the picture now, thanks to him burying those papers deep in his suitcase earlier, when he packed in a hurry thanks to Colonel Mustang's late announcement about the train's schedule. **"Stupid guy."** Edward murmured as he went on with his pouting, clearly wanting to board the train soon--which, in the alchemist's dictionary, meant _'NOW YOU FREAKING IDIOTS NOW I WANT IT NOW!'_. Yes, Edward is very impatient, even though he may deny the fact, but even a blind person could see--through his tone when speaking, of course--that the young man was very impatient and easily annoyed by many things. 

On the contrary, his little brother Alphonse was calmly waiting, quietly sitting on the bench as he watched his older yet somewhat immature older brother showed his frustration in waiting for someone to come. His eyes followed Edward's movements as he paced back and forth right in front of him, grumbling and murmuring inaudible, unintelligible words, his voice drowned by the noises in the station. Of course, it took him practically nothing to notice that his brother was annoyed, very annoyed, and was getting very impatient. Although the train didn't seem to be as full as those heading elsewhere, since some of the cars seemed empty, he would also like to board soon, for according to the clock that hung above the ticket booth, the train will be leaving in around ten minutes. Alphonse was never one to rush things, although traveling around with the impulsive Edward meant that he had to be ready to rush at any time, with or without warning. Letting out a sigh, as loud as his brother's yet softer in tone, the soft-spoken armor said, **"Calm down, brother. I'm sure she'll be here any moment now."** While it was unlikely that his words could soothe his brother, there was no harm in trying; besides, it would be better than letting Edward embarrass himself in front of everyone in the station by-- 

"**Aaaaah I'm calm, Al, I'm CALM!"** Edward shouted, his words contradicting his actions like black contradicting white, flailing his arms furiously, clearly not noticing that practically everyone at the station had just turned their heads--and with it, their attention--to the raging alchemist by the bench. Said alchemist himself could care less; he was getting impatient, very impatient, and this...partner girl whatever thingy was taking her own sweet time in coming to the station. Heck, she would probably just pop in and say 'sorry I couldn't pick which dress I should wear and ended up wearing something else' innocently, just like that. Yes, she had to be _that_ sort of girl, he just knew it--even though he was basing it on nothing. It was purely a wild guess made by an impatient young alchemist named Edward Elric who had not yet stopped his tantrum, even though more and more people was flocking around the brothers due to said tantrum. Alphonse could've sworn that he heard a little boy asking 'mommy what's that person doing' to the probably baffled mother. Such was Edward's gift to attract attention to himself and his brother, whether they originally wanted to or not. The alchemist had a loud mouth and a short temper, the perfect mixture to attract everyone's attention. 

A few moments passed and it would seem as if Edward had calmed down by a bit, for he had already sat quietly beside his little brother Alphonse, even though he still had a very sour expression, pouting and mumbling unintelligible words, his arms once again crossed in front of his chest. His angry eyes were fixed at the clock above the ticket booths, watching as time continued to pass, and at about five minutes to ten thirty, the alchemist suddenly stood up and said, **"To hell with the girl, Al! Let's just ditch the spoiled little princess and get on the train before it leaves!"** He's had enough of waiting now, and Colonel Mustang would most likely chew his ears off using his sarcasm if he failed to do the supposedly simple job. Heck, the matchstick hadn't even told him what the job was! He could never comprehend how that Colonel's brain worked--sometimes Edward thought the person didn't have a brain, or even if he had one, he certainly had no sanity whatsoever in that mind of his. Ignoring Alphonse's opinion to just wait for the girl, the alchemist grabbed his suitcase and was about to take a step towards the train when a female voice said, **"WHO THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL A SPOILED LITTLE PRINCESS YOU WERE GOING TO DITCH!"**

At the very moment Edward's head turned, a large, murky blue duffle bag hit him right on the face, its weight bringing him down to the floor moments later. The footsteps of a person kept getting louder and louder, signifying that someone--most likely the owner of the bag--was coming at him, although he couldn't really see with the heavy bag in the way. A few moments later, the footsteps stopped, and the alchemist could swear that someone was standing beside him, a guess that proved to be true when the bag was finally removed from his face. While his little brother was nowhere to be found, a young girl, probably two or three years younger than him, was standing right beside the very spot where he had been lying on from the moment the duffle bag hit him and brought him down. Blood red orbs immediately met his own bright golden eyes moments after he rose to a sitting position, the owner of those eyes standing in front of him, leaning forward as to match her eye level with his. 

"**Let me make this clear."** the girl said, her voice stern and commanding, **"One, I am not a spoiled little princess and two, you will not ditch me because I can have you court-martialed for disobeying a superior's orders."** While she did realize she might sound a little like Colonel Roy Mustang, especially on that last part of the sentence, the girl merely brushed a few strands of her jet-black hair from her face. Thinking that she should really consider hairpins sometime later, for her asymmetrical hair--her hair is longer on the back--had been giving her some problems, the girl dismissed that thought for now and turned her attention to the person currently sitting in front of her right now. _'So this impulsive boy is going to be my partner?'_ she thought, a sigh slipping her lips as she stood up straight and offered her right hand to Edward, who hesitated for a moment before taking the girl's hand, her smooth, pale skin brushing against his white gloves. Moments after he got back on his feet, the girl fired another question at him, albeit it had a rhetorical ring to it. **"The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric...you, right?"** There was currently nobody else matching the Colonel's short, somewhat uninformative description--honestly, the guy merely said _'he's short and blonde and braided and wears a red coat'_ earlier this morning when she asked what the Fullmetal Alchemist looked like. 

Now Edward was very pissed off, thanks to the girl hitting him with her own ridiculously heavy bag and then threatening him, only to make the image of a certain Colonel Mustang pop into his mind. Clearly this girl was, in more than one ways, quite similar to the Colonel, although seeing that he had just met her a few moments ago, he probably shouldn't judge the girl...screw that, she was the female version of Colonel Mustang! In response to the girl's question, Edward reluctantly replied, **"Yes, I am. What of it?"** Moments later he realized that, for once, there was a person who didn't mistake his little brother, who was standing a little behind him, watching everything quietly while making sure that his impulsive older brother didn't do anything stupid again. This girl had correctly identified him as the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. Of course, the girl was still pissing him of anyway, thanks to her likeness to Colonel Mustang and her commanding attitude. Staring straight back into her blood red eyes, similar to those of an Ishbalan's, the Fullmetal Alchemist calmly asked, **"And you are?"** While he knew the girl probably expected him to read the files about her, Edward simply didn't have the time to. The person who gave him the files didn't give him time to read, for goodness' sake; besides, who can read while they rush to the station to catch their train? 

Just by listening to his tone as he spoke, the girl could tell that the boy was angry--with her, undoubtedly. It wasn't like she ever made any effort to make a good first impression, anyway; he should have seen what she did in her State Alchemist exam a few weeks ago. Taking a deep breath and letting it out with a sigh, the girl calmly said in an underestimating tone, **"Looks like Roy was right. I guess there's no helping it now."** A confident smirk slipped onto her lips as she fixed her eyes at Edward's and continued her previously cut sentence. **"I'm Schwarz Arche, the...Angelic Alchemist, and don't ask me why did they assign that ridiculously cheesy and cliché name to me."** Seriously, Schwarz hated her own title, for it was too cheesy and cliché, at least for her...although it does fit what she showed to those people at the exam. Why couldn't she choose her own title, for the love of everything! Why did it have to be _assigned_ by those stupid people at the top! Heck, even 'Fullmetal' was better than her own title! Letting out a dissatisfied grumble as she forcefully dismissed the thought off her mind, she turned her attention back to the rather short alchemist--he was only one or two inches taller than she was, but he was a sixteen-year-old guy and she was a thirteen-year-old girl, for goodness' sake--Schwarz casually carried her duffel bag and strode towards the train, mentioning that they should hurry without even looking back, knowing full well that the Elrics were going to follow her. Besides, the announcement made it clear that the train was going to leave any moment now, and a smirk slipped onto her lips as she glanced behind and saw the two rush into the train, shoving people out of the way in their rush. 

'_Perhaps this would be a fun journey after all.'_ she quietly thought, picking an empty seat by the window and watching as the train began to leave the station. 


End file.
